“Corn isn’t a commonly used ingredient in dessert, but picked and used before the natural sugars turn into starch, it’s incredibly sweet,” says Quade. “It lends itself well to the flavour of the baked cream and the toasted bittersweetness of the caramel corn.”
Ingredients
Baked sweetcorn cream
Caramel corn
Method
Main
1.Preheat oven to 200C. For baked sweetcorn cream, juice corn kernels in a juicer or process in a food processor and pass through a fine sieve, pressing on solids to extract all liquid to yield 250ml juice. Set aside. Whisk yolks and sugar in a large bowl until pale (2-3 minutes), add corn juice and cream, whisking to combine, then pour into a shallow 1-litre baking dish and bake until golden-brown and just set (10-15 minutes). Cool slightly, transfer to a blender, squeeze excess water from gelatine and add to corn mixture. Blend until smooth, then pour into serving bowls or ramekins and refrigerate until lukewarm (10-15 minutes, or longer to serve chilled if you prefer).
2.Sieve milk powder over a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake until light golden-brown (8-10 minutes), then set aside.
3.For caramel corn, heat oil in a saucepan over high heat, add corn, cover with a tight lid and cook, gently shaking pan occasionally, until corn stops popping (5-7 minutes). Transfer to a bowl. Stir sugar and 55ml water in a small saucepan over high heat until sugar dissolves, then cook until dark caramel (4-5 minutes). Remove from heat, quickly stir into popcorn to coat, spread on a lightly oiled tray and set aside to cool. Break and crush into irregular pieces, then scatter over corn custard and dust with toasted milk powder to serve.
